I too think that $179 bucks for a 120 gig "Microsoft Certified" hard drive is stupid.
Any way we can save a few bucks by doing it ourselves is all for the better.

Microsoft is addicted to money like some people are addicted to crack, and the xbox360 is proof of that. I have several friends that have the Xbox360 and bought it brand new. Exactly when the warranty expired, the Xbox360 would die on them.
2 of them sent it back to be repaired and it cost over $130 for each repair. Not only that, Microsoft uses it to their advantage because they can spy on people by looking at the hard drive and seeing anything they have on it.
Now the updates that you have to get to play online games is stupid. This allows them to spy on you remotely. Any bit of data they can get on you they use it to make money (information = money). Many of these people when they got the updates, the Xbox360 died on them causing them to pay for Microsoft's mistake.

How can a update be for security when it opens a back door for Microsoft?
Did you know that if you refuse to install XP service Pack 2 on a machine with Service Pack 1 you get banned from Microsoft updates?
Enough is enough Microsoft, you can take Vista, Windows XP service Pack 2, and the Xbox360 and shove it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

I dont see how this could void the xbox warranty, youre not modifying the hardware at all. Just adding a modified hard drive, which snaps on externally.

wazzledoozleI dont see how this could void the xbox warranty, youre not modifying the hardware at all. Just adding a modified hard drive, which snaps on externally.

Because you have to open the HD enclosure to do it. That would definitely void the HD warranty, but I'm not so sure about the console itself. I don't see how it could void the console's warranty.

paul06660Not only that, Microsoft uses it to their advantage because they can spy on people by looking at the hard drive and seeing anything they have on it.
Now the updates that you have to get to play online games is stupid. This allows them to spy on you remotely. Any bit of data they can get on you they use it to make money (information = money). Many of these people when they got the updates, the Xbox360 died on them causing them to pay for Microsoft's mistake.

How can a update be for security when it opens a back door for Microsoft?
Did you know that if you refuse to install XP service Pack 2 on a machine with Service Pack 1 you get banned from Microsoft updates?

This sounds like reliable certified data, tell me more about it ( '-')

The firmware updates for the 360 were pretty much worth it every time. And so far I have not heard about M$ *spying* on it. If they do internal survey about their own network it's okay I guess.

And you should just gtfo if you use XP without SP2 and latest hotfixes. SP1 is not secure at all at this point.

But you can take that HDD on and off with no worries of ruining the warranty to upgrade to higher capacity MS certified hard drives? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I dont fault MS for making money, I mean, they are a company and that is there business plan, however, theres a difference between making money and absolutely slaughtering the bums of your consumer base. in the end, this winds up being as much, if not more than the PS3 itself. I still love mine, but this elite model is a crock. We current owners should be able to trade ours in for a substantial discount and pay only 50 to 100 bucks for the elite model.

WarEagleAUBut you can take that HDD on and off with no worries of ruining the warranty to upgrade to higher capacity MS certified hard drives? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I dont fault MS for making money, I mean, they are a company and that is there business plan, however, theres a difference between making money and absolutely slaughtering the bums of your consumer base. in the end, this winds up being as much, if not more than the PS3 itself. I still love mine, but this elite model is a crock. We current owners should be able to trade ours in for a substantial discount and pay only 50 to 100 bucks for the elite model.

Uh, no. Maybe you forgot that Microsoft is a corporation, not a charity. No company is going to give anyone that much of a discount to trade in old hardware. The only hardware company I know of that gives a discount for trading in old hardware would be ATI, which only pays $50 for old cards. (When you buy a new one)

ContactDont forget eVGA.

eVGA requires you trade up within 90 days, which is hardly a trade-up period.

So now that Microsoft is banning consoles with modified firmware and such, does this Harddrive Mod also = a banned console?

That's right if you plan on doing this, I wouldn't even try using Xbox Live.

erockerThat's right if you plan on doing this, I wouldn't even try using Xbox Live.

I'll update the news story to notify anyone who searches the old news.